To be a bit naffed off with the advert for Jamie Oliver's "dream school"

[MogTheForgetfulCat]

I'm not a teacher (although thinking of becoming one...) and I know the programme hasn't even been on yet, so maybe I should give it a chance...

...but it just seems wrong to me to suggest that what kids who are struggling at school need are various low-level slebs coming in and pontificating. Why on earth should Alistair Campbell, for example, be an amazing/inspiring teacher? And I'm not aware that 'Expeditions' features highly on the curriculum of most schools, so gawd knows where they got that idea from.

I probably ABU, am v grumpy waiting for DS3 to finally show his face (9 days overdue and feeling twitchy about induction - gah!) But have felt irritated by the ad every time I've seen it, and think it's potentially a real smack in the face to the large number of good, dedicated and hard-working teachers out there who might be about to be undercut by some odd choices - and to what ends?

[EvilTwins]

dandy - genuinely interested - what do you do in your local school? I am cynical about Jamie's latest venture. It seems that everyone has an opinion about how schools should be run, and unfortunately, a great many parents buy into the "tachers are shit" argument. Jamie and his band of celebs are bound to spawn a lot of "teachers don't know what they're doing" crap, which doesn't do us any favours.

[GothAnneGeddes]

The high school up the road from me was in Special Measures last year. After a lot of hard work from the staff it is now ranked as outstanding. That's despite being located in a very average area and in a recession. I would love to see a documentary about that, rather than a bunch of celebs poncing about.

*Insert rant about the decline of documentaries and the rise of braindead 'celeb culture'.


Oh, and bring back World in Action.

[beatenbyayellowteacup]

Even if they don't spout a lot of "teachers don't know what they're doing" stuff - the premise of the whole show is exactly that.

I like cooking, I eat everyday, but I can't imagine going in to a professional kitchen with some other people who like eating, and assume I could do better than the chefs.

Teacher do know that there are disaffected kids, the do care, and they are professionals. If there is anything wrong in the chain for these kids, it's not usually the teachers. Unpopular I know, but it's usually the parents.

[EvilTwins]

beaten - completely agree with you.

[Petalouda]

So glad this thread exists - I've been ranting at DH since spotting this ad a few weeks ago.

Sorry - I haven't read all 130 posts yet (just first and last page!).

OP: YANBU. I am a teacher, and can't stand the reinforcement of the implication that teachers are inept, which is unfortunately already prevalent among (it seems) every other individual in the country. Not least from the government & Mr Gove himself.

Can't people just understand that believe it or not, we really do want the best for our young people, but unfortunately learning is not passive, and there needs to be a responsibility on the part of parents & students themselves for actually participating in the activities we attempt.

Do I sound bitter?! Product of a half-term spent marking & planning!

Thanks Beaten, for summing up my feelings concisely.

[chocolateshoes]

Also they had auditions for the 'pupils'....so there will have been some drama school kids going for the roles - acting bad just to get noticed....

[dandyclock]

EvilTwins Seriously?

Okay, I work for an orgainisation who help to prepare young people for the world of work, KS3 and KS4 - we do this through a variety of events, activities, and challenges all based around developing enterprise and employability skills. There. Gone and said it now.

Because of this, I absolutely and totally admire the work that teachers do and are responsible for. I'm exhausted after one day in school, working with 'challenging young people'. But I love it. The challenge part that is.

[EvilTwins]

dandy - we have people like you in our school from time to time (we're a Business & Enterprise School - at least we have been til now - not sure what's going on with specialisms) and the kids always love it.

[dandyclock]

EvilTwins, that's good to hear. Thanks for the vote of confidence. Let's hope the funding cuts are in our favour ...

[UnquietDad]

dandy - no, not a teacher. But I am married to one.

[dandyclock]

UQD Did you see my comment to EvilTwins??

I absolutely and totally admire the work that teachers do and are responsible for ... the education sector seems to be constantly exposed to the rantings of various politicians telling (us all) that young people need to consider 'raising their aspirations, through social mobility'.

It's often an achievement in itself just to get some of them to complete a relatively simple task, to time. Far too tricky if they're not interested in the subject.

[Honeybee79]

YANBU. I don't know why these people think they know better than trained teachers. Bit insulting to the teaching profession really.

Yes, David Starkey is an academic historian, but knowing lots about history does not automatically make you a great teacher. As for Alastair Campbell . . . What does he bring to the party exactly?

[GothAnneGeddes]

Honeybee79 - In answer to your question: Eeeeeeevvvviill. I'm surprised he passed a CRB check, the warmongering tossarse.

[GothAnneGeddes]

I've just had a horrid thought: 'Jamie's Dream Hospital'.

[jenandberry]

David Starkey "taught" me at univerisity. He was inspirational but I could not imagine him teaching bottom set year 9 on a Friday afternoon - or even top set for that matter.

I was ranting about this earlier and knew there would be a thread on this.

If we need a better batch of teachers perhaps we should pay more rather than subjecting us all to another mockumentary.

[NoSuchThingAsSociety]

Certainly there are good, bad and indifferent teachers, as one would expect in any walk of life.

A problem for the profession, however, is the perception that it lacks the rigour and discipline to deal with members that fail to meet the required standard, for example.

Quite why teachers should be exempted from the performance reviews and discipline procedures that the rest of us have to comply with is beyond me.

[NinkyNonker]

We're not? What on earth makes you think that?

[chocolateshoes]

'exempted from performance reviews????????????????????????????????????????????????

[chocolateshoes]

nearly choked on my hot cross bun then!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[coastgirl]

Teachers have performance reviews every year!

[jenandberry]

We do have performance reviews but it is too difficult to get rid of a crap teacher.

[beatenbyayellowteacup]

Well I've already been observed twice since September, which will form part of my performance review.

But I agree it's hard to get rid of tough teachers. But no-one likes being bad at their job.

[UnquietDad]

NoSuchThing - where, exactly, do you get the idiotic, erroneous, daft, stupid, crazy, jaw-dropping, ill-informed, inaccurate and totally made-up idea that teachers are 'exempted from performance reviews'??? Just wondering...

[UnquietDad]

On Starkey - the best academics do not make the best teachers. I went to some extremely dull lectures at university given by the world expert on a particular German playwright. They were duller than watching paint dry. The numbers dwindled week by week.

There was no engagement with his audience - I worked out I'd be better off going back to my room and reading his very good book on the subject instead.

A lot of academics would really like to just be left alone to research, but they have to teach as part of their tenure. Many of them are great and inspiring, but many of them hate it.

[noeyedear]

Thats ridiculous! Teachers are constantly reviewed on their performance! In the first year of teaching, or even in a new job, you are observed to death, according to ever more ridiculous OFSTED criteria. Then you get observed every year, which then goes into a performance review at the end of the year.

It is too hard to get rid of poor teachers. This puts strain on the rest of us, because of the pressure all of us are under from regulations, paperwork etc. Schools and colleges ( where i work) would rather deal with teachers as a blanket problem than confront problem staff who often have the biggest mouths and are most willing to run to the Union when they are challenged. Rather than letting teachers get on with their jobs and deal with bad teachers appropriately, everyone is treated as incompetent. This rubbish from Jamie Oliver won't change anything about this, just make it worse. "All you need are inspiring teachers to change the system"- no- you need not to tie teachers up with ridiculous blanket rules that are made up by people who need to justify their existence ( Politicians, OFSTED, etc).